Pardew bemoans disallowed goals

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was left 'very disappointed' after two disallowed goals cost his side against Metalist on Thursday.

Papiss Cisse saw two efforts ruled out for offside either side of half-time, with television replays showing both decisions to be questionable in the first leg of the Europa League round-of-32 tie.

Pardew refused to blame the officials as Newcastle earned a 0-0 home draw, and has called on his players to use the decisions as motivation when they travel to Ukraine.

"Both goals were goals. You see the replays and you can see that," Pardew told reporters after the game.

"The first one I was a little undecided, but the second was a definite goal, and that was tough to take because in these games the margins are the difference, and the benefit on those lines are meant to be for the striker.

"That's the rule. Both decisions were level. I thought the referee was excellent tonight. The two decisions were the linesman's call.

"When you get decisions like that go against you it puts fire in your belly. We've come off the pitch tonight very, very disappointed."

The encounter marked another frustrating outing for Cisse, who – despite seeing two of his efforts ruled out – also missed a host of chances.

But Pardew is confident the striker is close to finding his fantastic form of last season.

"He hasn't seen the replays yet, and I think that could hinder his sleep somewhat," Pardew joked.

"He looks sharp and keeps getting in there. The last three or four games he's had more chances than he has all season, and (Moussa) Sissoko, who was absolutely brilliant again, is opening up space for him.

"I think all strikers feel a lot better when they score, and I think when he looks back and sees them, they'll put fire in his belly. He's a natural finisher, and he was very unlucky not to score tonight."

Pardew was also full of praise for Metalist and is anticipating a difficult return leg.

"They were itching for a game and they played with enthusiasm, and they played well, for long periods of the game," he said.

"But I don't think my team could have played much better and we should have won the game today.

"The more I saw of them, I knew they were a very, very good side. They'll be a tough nut to crack in these two legs."